awards...

okay, I'm going to take a risk here and talk about blog awards. A blogger I recently started reading put up a post questioning what the awarding and meme'g and tagging thing was all about. Being a fairly new blogger, they had questions ...

got me to thinking more about it ... I always have mixed reactions to awards ... on the one hand, it is of course nice to have recognition... when an award is bestowed and there is feedback given about one's writing efforts ... it is gratifying. It is also nice to write about others I admire and/or enjoy. And memes can be fun because you learn something new about the blogger.

then come the rules. I understand that providing some guidelines might help the 'love' get passed along. but they seem to get a little strident at times. somewhat demanding.

Also, since the purpose of the rules is to mandate who and how to pass the thing along ... well, there are only so many blogs one can read and gain familiarity with. So inevitably the same circle of bloggers within a 'following' tend to get hit over and over again. And they seem to come in waves because of this phenomenon as well.

I admit I have found it stressful to receive an award. Kind of damned if I do and damned if I don't. How am I going to come up with new recipients so I don't keep burdening the same folks? How will I find time to read some newer blogs more thoroughly so I know whether or not to tag them? If I don't respond, will I insult the blogger who gave it? How do I react if I am ignored?

what would Jenny do? (since she is my blogging idol ... ) well I kind of know. She always seems to find time to come and comment on my peasant blog, if she receives recognition. But I've never seen her actually respond on her site. But then she's famous. What if I did the research and found out her history includes a series of awards that led to her success? hmmmmm.

what say you?